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SCO Demands Linux 2.7 Information
dr_d_19 writes "According to Groklaw, SCO is now demanding IBM to turn over 'all documents concerning IBM's contributions to the Linux 2.7 kernel, including development work'. Of course, there is no 2.7 kernel and no plans at all to create one."
IBM just hasn't released it yet. Bastards.
Note to mods: I'm probably being sarcastic.
SCO does not, and has never had a firm grip on reality. This is news?
Everyone knows that linus is going "corporate", and playing the version game.
Next linux versions according to the roadmap:
Lets hope that biff, darl, and kevin don't read slashdot, or the jig is up!
...either that, or a empty box.
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
"Your Honour, we propose that there may be a Linux 2.7 kernel in... you know... that other dimension where Spock has a beard."
Trolling is a art,
Document requests in discovery are governed by Rule 34. One of the provisions of this rule is that the respondant has 30 days to answer the document request.
IBM will say "sorry, we don't have any of the documents you've requested because they don't exist"
Sure SCO looks bad, but i don't think this is a case of everybody "laughing so hard we won't be able to hear you if you mumble" as TFA suggests.
The way I see it, IBM has two very easy answers to SCO's request.
1) Hand them a blank piece of paper.
2) Attach a bell and a whistle to a CD containing the source for the latest 2.6 kernel.
Oh, a lesson in history from Mr. I'm my own grandpa.
To most of us, SCO has been purely laughable for a long time already. /ever/ stop?
But as long as it can stay in the news, it will keep damaging Linux's reputation; other pepole keep hearing the general news of "Linux being under attack".
The big question, and what we should hope for is: when will SCO's whining
Last time I checked(admittedly, it's been a long time), odd numbered kernels are the kernels where major changes are made. Couldn't it be said that SCO is really asking for future plans on major additions to the kernel in asking for planned additions to 2.7, rather than simply asking for data about a piece of code which does not yet exist?
It's been a long time.
No court on earth would ever buy that. Judges do understand the fact that reality changes over time.
(Although, if SCO does push the "Linux 2.7" thing, which they may be stupid and/or high enough to do, it would be some nice smartassitude to jump a version number to piss them off.)
I am now convinced that someone at SCO has flipped their lid and become a paranoid schizophrenic. Either that, or they are aiming at a career on the Comedy Channel once SCO sinks without trace.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
More evidence of the giant corporation stonewalling justice.
:)
They have to write SCO System VI somehow.
The boldfaced line is the only one in the motion where the "2.7" appears.
Now, do you really think that they intended to demand code contributed to a nonexistent project? Or that perhaps, just maybe, someone fat-fingered "2.6?"
In other words, this is most likely just a silly typo. Nothing to see, move along.
Kind of off-topic, but your signature is also a bit embarassing:
Last I looked, Referrer is spelled with 4 "r"s, not one OR 2.
R - e - f - e - R - R - e - R
(capitalized/capitalised* so you can't miss them)
*spelling varies depending on continent :-)
Someone hinted that it'd be damned cool if Linus went and sent out an email, announcing 2.7, with the content in a file or the email to the effect of: "This Release Intentionally Left Blank" and then release 2.8/2.9.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Pillow transactions with the tooth fairy. Yeah baby!
picpix image polls. create - share - vote. fun!
Most of us have been keeping this a secret, but the 2.7 series source is on a HD-DVD disk hanging from a sky-hook in the basement of the Alamo.
In this new motion, SCO is not only saying that she really did order IBM to produce Linux code, but adds a new version (which they also have not previously mentioned) to the list. They're telling Kimball that Wells misunderstood her own orders.
With the cajones on these guys, it's a wonder they can walk.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
If the following forum is anything to by, people are talking about it:
Linux 2.7 kernel
Even if it is not necessarily in active development, people are talking about what they would like to see.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
The big big issue in this is the order in which discovery is occuring.
In a normal court case, when you file the case you need to identify with specificity what your claim is.
In this case, at a minimum, SCO should have detailed, with specificity, what code they beleive is copyright / contract violated and why during the discovery process by now.
This 2.7 thing is a nitpick honestly. The fact that IBM probably has only a limited clue on the details of the copyright and contract claims is a much much bigger deal.
These claims need to be detailed so they can be addressed. They need to identify WHAT Sco says it owns, WHICH contract provision were violated etc.
Surprised there hasn't been more of an effort in this area, and am almost certain that whatever SCO comes with up will continue to be vague. Make that a predicition, IBM will file a motion for clarification after fact discovery ends. They should be getting this on the judges radar NOW however.
Interesting case though.
IANAL, but I've seen the inside of the Courtroom, alas.
First of all, the Court generally allows very wide latitude in discovery, certainly including such wild speculative fishing trips as this one. The principle is that the parties should have maximal access to any information that could even conceivably help their case. Not just in the interests of justice, that is, so that the parties can make the best case they can, but also in the interests of finality. You don't want the loser appealing the judgment or otherwise coming back to Court again because they can argue some sliver or other of information wasn't available, and if it had been it might've made all the difference, blah blah blah. You want people to believe the Court gave the losing party every conceivable imaginable chance to make their case -- and they just couldn't.
IBM knows this, too, of course, and that is why they cooperate in the discovery, and why they won't settle. They want the SCO lawyers to make the very best case that can possible be made, so that after SCO loses, this issue is dead, dead, dead and no one will even think about bringing another case like it ever again, and no Court will ever entertain it. IBM does not hire stupid lawyers.
Sorry, but this doesn't make America great at all. Things that were done in the distant past are not a reason to respect something or someone today. Yes, America's founders were wise men with great ideas, but guess what? That was over 225 years ago. Rome had some great achievements too, but you don't see anyone talking about how great the empire of Rome is now do you? Or what about the Greeks? They sure did some amazing things too, several thousand years ago.
What's important today is what America is doing today. What great things has America done recently (as in the last 10 years; usually people want to talk about WWII for some reason, which was over long before they were born)? As an American, I can't think of a whole lot.
... IBM now has to provide extensive documentation to convince the Court that they do not have a 2.7 kernel ... while SCO simply claims that IBM is hiding the 2.7 kernel and will "prove" it once IBM finally complies with SCO's request to turn over everything done by anyone, ever, on any project under any contract.
WAIT! Before you hit that "FUNNY" mod!
SCO HAS demanded access to information/code that a developer (who may have existed) may have written on a computer that may not have been uploaded to a server because it may have been in a "sandbox" and THAT code may be the code necessary for SCO to "prove" its case.
Because maybe that maybe developer may have done something that may not have been allowed under a contract that may have covered what that maybe developer may have done on a machine that might have existed, in a sandbox that might have existed, that may not have any other record.
Wikipedia's got some web-based Ibuprofin for them thar migrane. The Story Thus Far:
This should get you started in learning all you need to know to get you caught up. Hope this helps!
Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
Remember the whole exercise, from Darl's perspective, is to keep things alive for as long as possible to keep pumping money into legal fees etc. The best way to do this is to open up a new can of worms.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
SCO announced that it has appointed a new CEO, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, to carry on with the lawsuits against IBM. You may remember Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf from his former position as the Iraqi Information Minister.
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/
Why did I lurk so long before registering for a Slashdot account? I could have had a Slashdot ID of less than 100000.
Shouldn't this whole thing be under the "From the Mysterious Future" department?
www.eFax.com are spammers
... it is reported that SCO have subpoened an individual named John Titor, in the belief that he may have a copy of the 2.7 release or later, although lawyers are unsure where to send the letter as the address does not exist yet.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
In this light, if IBM did make any casual remarks to 2.7 in its docs then it's IBM who looks like it's hiding development, code, or plans for a future development. Whether it existed or not, the 2.7 kernel was probably referred to as an abstract, future target. If it was mentioned in internal docs, then this call for the missing 2.7 information is just SCO putting IBM's lawyers noses to the grindstone and giving them a complicated distraction to have to explain away to the court.
True, it will amount to nothing in terms of their accusations of stolen code. The 2.7 kernel doesn't exist. But in the final weeks of discovery, it may be a more valuable way to pull IBM's lawyers' focus off other aspects of the case.
Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, IBM's attorney would certainly want you to believe that his client wrote "The 2.7 Linux kernel" ten years ago. And they make a good case. Hell, I almost felt pity myself!
But ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider: Ladies and gentlemen, this [pointing to a picture of Chewbacca] is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now, think about that. THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! Why would a Wookiee--an eight foot tall Wookiee--want to live on Endor with a bunch of two foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense!
But more important, you have to ask yourself, what does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense.
Look at me, I'm a lawyer from SCO, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca. Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense. None of this makes sense!
And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberating and conjugating Linux source code... Does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense.
If Chewbacca lived on Endor, you must convict IBM! The prosecution rests.
Ah yes, Col. Twopointseven. I served with him in e'Nam under General Protectionfault. Yeah, those were the times. Just me, Col. Twopointseven and Private Member. Twopointseven came from Int, Maine - whenever he got the chance he'd go and bicker about the town of Void, Maine, which apparently seemed to be inhabitated only by strange people who'd regularly turn blue and crash somewhere. Apart from that Twopointseven wasn't very communicative - he didn't care much about Smalltalk or the nice Java Private Member sometimes brewed, but he did like the sea and sometimes he told us that he wanted to become a great constructor. Well, over there in the jungle his chances to do that were exactly NULL. Perhaps it was a pointer showing him that he shouldn't run atfer FALSE hopes or something... Yeah, you become philosophical like that when you're sitting in a dank shack on the wrong side of the globe, smoking your last #imported cigs while the Apaches are taking off.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)